"To-day there are only four really distinct arms of the Service, viz.: the Infantry, the Artillery, Aviation, and Chemical Warfare. All other forms of warfare are a combination, more or less complete, of these. The gases, smoke, and incendiary materials that make up chemical warfare are used to a greater or lesser extent by other arms, but wherever gas is used it compels precautionary measures that are found in no other branch of the Service.
"Considering its power, it has no equal. Physical vigour is one of the greatest assets in any army. Gas, used properly and in quantities that will be easily obtainable in future wars, will make the wearing of the mask a continuous affair for all troops within two to five miles of the front line, and in certain places for many miles beyond. If it never killed a man, the reduction in physical vigour, and, therefore, in efficiency of an army forced at all times to wear masks, would amount to at least 25 per cent., equivalent to disabling a quarter of a million men out of an army of a million."
The Gas Cloud Inescapable.—He goes on to explain some of the more specific military needs which can be met by chemical means, and refers independently to a point which the Germans have mentioned repeatedly in their memoirs. "One great reason why chemical warfare will continue is that it fills a long-felt want on the part of the soldier, that of shooting successfully around a stump or rock. The gas cloud is inescapable. It sweeps over and into everything in its path. No trench is too deep for it, no dug-out, unless hermetically sealed, is safe from it. Night and darkness only heighten its effect. It is the only weapon that is as effective in a fog or in the inky blackness of a moonless night as in the most brilliant sunshine. Only the mask and the training that go with it protect. Terror, confusion, lack of discipline and control are fatal."
Importance of Smoke.—General Fries is insistent on the future importance of smoke in warfare:
"Chemical warfare includes gas, smoke, and incendiary materials, and they can't well be subdivided. As before stated, all the early gas attacks were in the form of clouds. The value of that cloud, not only for carrying gas but for screening purposes, began to be realised in the fall of 1917. Clouds of smoke may or may not be poisonous, and they will or will not be poisonous, at the will of the one producing the smoke. For that reason every cloud of smoke in the future must be looked upon as possibly containing some deadly form of gas. When you consider this for a moment, you can realise the tremendous possibilities for ingenuity that gas and smoke afford the attacker.
"The American, trained for 300 years in meeting nature on her great plains and in her vast forests, was early appealed to by this side of chemical warfare. As early as November 3, 1917, the United States was urged, in a cablegram from the Chemical Warfare Service in France, to push the development of a large phosphorous supply for use in smokes. Not only were the early intuitions of the value of gas borne out by later events, but to-day the future of smoke appears greater still. The battle-field of the future will be covered with smoke— not the all-pervading black smoke of the battles of the Civil War and of earlier wars before smokeless powder came into use, but a field covered with dots and patches of smoke, big and little, here and there and everywhere.
"Every man who has hunted ducks and been caught in a dense fog with ducks quacking all round, and who has tried to get ducks by firing at the quack in the fog, can realise the difficulty of hitting a man on the battlefield when you cannot see him, and have only a quack, or less, by which to locate him. The smoke will be generated in candles of two or three-pound cans that can be thrown out in front of trenches; by knapsacks that can be carried and which will give off dense white smoke in large volume for many minutes; by grenades which, while they may be thrown by hand, will generally be fired from rifles; by artillery shells reaching ten, fifteen, twenty miles back of the main battle line; and finally, from aeroplane bombs whose radius of action is limited only by the size of the earth. And thus smoke becomes one of the great elements of war in the future. It is more or less wholly protective in its nature, but as it costs more and takes longer to train a man in the various problems involved in modern war than ever before in this history of the world, it is worth while taking every precaution to protect him, once you have him trained."
Casualty Percentages.—He also brings out very dearly the unique possibility possessed by gas warfare of increasing its military efficiency, while decreasing its relative atrocity:
"The death rate in the first gas attack was probably in the neighbourhood of 35 per cent. of all casualties— and everybody in front of the wave was a casualty. With the development of masks and training in the use of the mask and in taking advantage of the ground, the death rate fell. At the same time the total number of casualties fell, but not at all in the same ratio as the decrease in the death rate. From a probable death rate of 35 per cent. in the first attack it fell to 24 per cent., then to 18 per cent., and, as gas attacks by artillery became general, to 6 per cent., and finally, with the extended use of mustard gas, the rate fell to 2.5 per cent. or less."
Again referring to casualties, he gives us the startling fact that 75,000 out of the 275,000 American casualties were caused by gas, "And yet," he says "the Germans used it in a halting, comparatively feeble manner."
Short Range Projectors.—Very much alive to the future of the short-range projectors developed in connection with gas warfare, he tells us, "The Gas Regiment in the St. Mihiel battle fired on the Cote des Esparges one hundred of these high explosive bombs at the zero hour on the morning of the attack. That hill, famous for its strength through four years of struggle between the French and Germans, dis-appeared completely as an enemy standpoint. Nothing remained but torn and broken barbed wire, bits of concrete pill-boxes, and trenches filled with debris, and a few scattered fragments of clothing.
"The gas troops will, in the future, handle all short-range methods of firing gas, smoke, or high explosive. They will deliver the greatest quantities of material possible up to ranges of a mile and a half or a mile and three-quarters. So effective and so efficient are these short-range methods of projection that the No-Man's-Land of the future will be the width covered by these projectors and mortars. They can't, and never will, compete with the artillery, where range and great accuracy are the most important factors. The efficiency of artillery gas shell or artillery smoke or high explosive shell is only one-fifth that of the projector. Hence, for economy and efficiency, the artillery will be used to fire gas, smoke, high explosive, and incendiary materials only at ranges beyond those reached by the gas troops."
Again, showing how the American authorities were seized with the importance of the matter, we read:
Vast Expansion in Personnel.—"So greatly were these possibilities appreciated in the summer of 1918 that the number of gas troops authorised for use against the Germans was increased from six companies to fifty-four. Back of all this, however, was the productive capacity of the United States, which ensured that those troops would be able to fight day and night, summer, winter, and fall, until the war was over. No wonder the German quit—it was time, and he knew it."
And in conclusion General Fries tells us:
"The universal adoption of gas warfare on sea and land and in the air, combined with its persistent quality, will make that nation able to produce and use gas in the largest quantity superior in war to any other nation on the globe. The United States can reach that position and maintain it, and I believe that we are going to get such encouragement from the War Department that we can do it. I feel sure that the army appreciates the value of chemical warfare, and that it appreciates also the value of the chemists to chemical warfare.
"So long as there is any danger of other nations continuing these methods of warfare, research and experiment in chemical warfare must be pursued. Research must not only be directed towards the gases and apparatus, likely to be employed in the future, but also towards protection against all possible gases. Training in the use of gas will be confined to appropriate branches, but training in defensive measures will include the whole army.
"We must continue our studies of what is known as chemical warfare. No nation has renounced the use of poison gases as the result of the Peace Conference. There are nations whose word we could not respect if they did renounce it. It is essential to study the offensive side of chemical warfare if we are to be prepared for defence. The great importance of adequate defensive appliances arises from the fact that preparations for the offensive use of gas can be made in peace-time with great secrecy, and may have far-reaching and even fatal results in the early stages of a war.
" . . . For these reasons it is necessary to make adequate provision for research, experiment, and design in connection with war material. It is equally necessary to avoid overlap, duplication of effort, and the setting up of military institutions for scientific research which can better be done by existing civil institutions."
He also quotes from a statement from General Debeney, Director of the French College of Warfare:
"Should war begin now, aviation, and especially gas, would play one of the most important parts. The progress of aviation would make the rear of each front, and very far in rear, extremely dangerous, and the progress of chemistry would permit the use of gas on zones of such an extent as cannot be imagined.
"Making gas is naturally rapidly done, because all the manufacturers of chemical product—still so numerous in Germany—can be requisitioned, but to make airplanes is much slower.
"The defence against gas seems to be more difficult than against airplanes. I believe that against airplanes, the anti-aircraft artillery is susceptible of making rapid progress, and perhaps in that very instance gas will be one of the best ways, if with appropriate shells*the air can be poisoned all around the attacking airplanes.
"It would be much more effective to create, for example, a sphere of poisoned air a mile round the airplane, instead of trying to hit the machine directly with bits of the shell."
British, French, and even German opinion, while not underestimating the importance of the matter, may not agree in an unqualified way with all the above statements. But we claim that they show vision in a branch of war which, on account of its scientific basis, may, more than any other, speedily prove the visionary a true prophet.
The preceding account of chemical warfare leaves the impression of a successful Allied struggle against persistently unfavourable circumstances. We were constantly compelled to accelerate to attain the pace set by the enemy. There were exceptions, undoubtedly, but in the main Germany kept ahead in the chemical struggle.
So far, in examining the root of our troubles, we have been content to refer to the existence of the I.G., to describe its chemical warfare activities, and to indicate, briefly, its unique power to produce large quantities of organic chemical products at short notice. The close connection between the German dye industry and chemical warfare is now well recognised in official circles, and, to some extent, by the general public. Its belated exposure was almost entirely due to the facts revealed by the Inter-Allied Mission to the German chemical factories some months after the Armistice.
But the situation thus revealed was not created in a day, nor by chance. Indeed, one of the military features of industrial chemical development in the I.G. has already been traced to pre-war activities. I refer to the Haber process for the production of synthetic ammonia. It would be short-sighted policy to accept the set of conditions against which we struggled, and to explain them in terms of the I.G., without looking more closely into the pre-war activities of this organisation. Such an examination may reveal the basic forces which determined our inferior position in chemical warfare at the outbreak of war. It is true that we can explain away our inferiority by referring to the German breach of faith, which automatically created conditions for which we were unprepared. This is a comfortable solution. But had chemical warfare been a strongly developed and accepted method of war before the outbreak of hostilities, would we then have been prepared? The records of the past, before April, 1915, must be consulted to answer this question. We may find that our position is due to more than a mere negative attitude, to more than our simple neglect of the organic chemical industry. It maybe that there were forces which definitely exploited this national characteristic to our disadvantage. The pre-war policy and activities of the I.G. must be examined from this point of view. In no country has such an investigation been more complete than in America, and official statements have been issued by the American Alien Property Custodian[1] which throw a flood of light on the pre-war activities of the constituent branches of the I.G. They conclusively reveal the existence of a carefully directed German chemical policy making for world domination in the organic chemical industry, which greatly hampered the military effectiveness of other countries, and directly strengthened the military resources of Germany. On broad lines, the pre-war and war activities of the I.G. produced the same result as an attempt to strangle the economic life of possible opponents, enfeebling their resistance to the subsequent delivery of a hammer blow designed to take maximum advantage of the situation thus created. Twenty years or more under the regime of a forceful economic policy, not without its sinister aspects, prepared the ground by weakening us in the concentrated chemical warfare which, ensued. The success of this policy manoeuvred us into such a position that we barely escaped defeat under the hammer blows of German chemical aggression. This, in fact, appears to have been the German conception of modern war in its relation to industry, and American reports have shown that it was carried through with typical thoroughness by familiar German methods.
[1]Alien Property Custodian Report, Washington. Government Printing Office, 1919.
Origin of German Chemical Monopolies.—The completeness of our organic chemical deficiencies, and the thorough way in which we had failed to develop organic chemical industries, creates such a sharp impression, when thrown into relief by the outbreak of war, that we are led to inquire into the methods by which these monopolies were established. Let us admit, without any further delay, that Germany owed the origin and assertion of these monopolies in part to her scientific development, fostered by a vigorous policy of applying scientific research to industrial enterprise. So far as her success depended upon such factors, it merits our unqualified admiration and envy. But stimulating these developments was a very definite general and commercial policy which requires close examination.
German Chemical Commercial Policy;—Evidence of the U.S.A. Alien Property Custodian.—Giving every credit to German initiative and thoroughness in the application of science to industry, we are still prompted to inquire how this monopoly came to be so complete. We can rely on more than mere rumour, when examining the commercial methods of the great I.G. The American Alien Property Custodian, Mr. Mitchell Palmer, and, later, Mr. Francis P. Garvan, had occasion and opportunity to make minute examination of the German dye agencies in America in connection with general investigations on the reorganisation of alien property. Their revelations truly merit the term, showing remarkably clearly the unity of conception, determination of purpose, and co-operation with the German Government which characterised the policy of the I.G.
Pre-war American Situation.—Let us briefly consider the relevant aspects of the pre-war American situation. According to fairly well-known facts, confirmed by the reports of the two American officials mentioned above, the American pre-war organic chemical industry consisted of little more than a series of small assembling plants. Although enormous supplies of coal-tar products were available, yet the dye intermediates derived from them were not made in America, but imported from Germany. After various attempts to establish the dye industry, it seemed, at one time, about 1880, to have definitely taken root, but, within the space of five years, there were only four dye producing establishments remaining.
German Price-cutting;—Salicylic Acid.—In every instance the manufacture was almost immediately brought to an end by German price-cutting. The same source reveals the direct and indirect methods used by Germany to prevent, at all costs, the development of an independent organic chemical industry. There are many pointed examples of the direct method, and we will glance at the case of salicylic acid. This is a very important chemical, used not only for certain important drugs but also as in intermediate for dyes and photographic chemicals. In 1903 the United States possessed five manufacturers of this product. In ten years' time three of these had failed, and one of the survivors was a mere branch of a German house. During this fatal ten years, the product was being sold in that country at a price twenty-five per cent. lower than in Germany. The manipulation of the prices of the other products of the German monopoly enabled them, by such methods, to maintain it. Many other examples, including such important products as bromine, oxalic acid, and aniline, could be quoted to show the results of the German price-cutting policy. The direct significance of bromine for chemical warfare must be borne in mind.
Full Line Forcing.—Besides directly attacking the production of raw materials and intermediates, the Germans used an indirect method which has been described as "full line forcing." They were the sole producers of certain specialities, such as alizarine colours, anthracene colours, and synthetic indigo. These were indispensable to the textile manufacturers, and by refusing to supply them, except to houses which would buy their other supplies from German manufacturers, the latter could squeeze out home producers of simple dyes, however efficient their production.
Bribery and Corruption;—German Patent Policy.—The dyeing industry was peculiarly susceptible to corruption. It was so simple for the head dyer of a mill to show a partiality for dyes from any particular source of supply. The American Alien Property Custodian very frankly tells us[1]: "The methods of the great German houses in carrying on their business in this country were from the first honeycombed with corruption. Bribery of dyers was carried on almost universally on a large scale. . . . So extensive was this corruption that I came across only one American consumer that had escaped its ill effects." Such were hardly the methods of decent commercial competition, although it appears that the strong patriotic sense of the German was able to justify, in his own eyes, what might be regarded as reprehensible methods. This is not a question of bringing up old reproaches, but merely of coldly examining facts. We have already referred to their patent policy, whereby thousands of patents were taken out, the only value of many of them, being to cramp the productive initiative of possible rivals. Professor Stieglitz explains how the German patents were useless in developing large scale manufacture. "The patent protects the product, but does not reveal the method." Sir William Pope has also brought out this point, showing how the Germans use thousands of bogus patents to protect their chemical industry. He tells us,[1b] "In fact, some German patents are drawn up for the purpose of discouraging investigation by more practical methods; thus, any one who attempted to repeat the method for manufacturing a dyestuff protected by Salzman & Kruger in the German patent No. 12,096 would be pretty certain to kill himself during the operation."
[1]Alien Property Custodian Report, 1919, p. 34.
[1b]Science and the Nation. A. C. Seward, F.R.S. Cambridge University Press, 1917.
Propaganda and Information;—Espionage; Activities of the Dye Agencies.—But another method which was used in this commercial offensive, to which we must draw further attention, dealt with propaganda and information. In his comprehensive report, the American Men Property Custodian examines a number of large industries and reveals how the German interest in these industries through their American ramifications were active, "sowing the seeds of German propaganda," and collecting information, both commercial and military, for the use of the German Government and its agents. Quoting again from this report, "In many of the large German-owned companies taken over by the Alien Property Custodian, after investigation it was found that espionage was one of the chief functions. Every scrap of information of commercial or military value to Germany was carefully gathered by the representatives of these concerns in this country and quickly forwarded to the home office in Germany. The German agents were particularly keen on gathering information that would be helpful to Germany's commercial warfare. Once in Germany, this information was carefully card-indexed for the use of the manufacturers. Bulletins of commercial information were also prepared and placed at their disposal. In Germany, the collection of all commercial information is under a bureau which is controlled and financed by the great German banks, such as the Dresdner, Disconto, and Reichs Bank." This statement is not mere generalisation, but is backed by innumerable examples. Thus we find a light railway equipment manufacturer, a projectile company, a wireless company, various magneto companies, insurance companies, and German shipping companies, all engaged in spreading propaganda, acquiring information, and influencing public opinion in favour of Germany. But, undoubtedly more important than any of these, and taking a leading part in the general scheme, was the German dye organisation. The American publications make this quite clear. Mr. Garvan goes so far as to say: "As long as you were supplied by the big six (i.e. the I.G.), your business had no secret unknown to Berlin. In Berlin you will find the card index system which recites every fact connected with each and every one of your sources which can be of any possible value to your rivals over there." Referring to assistance rendered by various American and Allied departments, including Military, Naval, and War Trade Intelligence, we learn from the same sources: "All these bodies worked in close co-operation and their mutual assistance was of inestimable value. Information derived from these sources demonstrated that the chemical industry was a natural centre for espionage and that this had been true long before we entered the war—indeed, before the war began. The relation between the German Government and the great German chemical houses was so close that representatives of the industry were naturally almost direct representatives of the Government, and their work in this country gave them unequalled opportunities for examining our industries from within."
With the outbreak of war, this organisation became more clearly defined. It was, perhaps, difficult before the war to know where to draw the line between purely commercial and actual governmental German activities. The outbreak of war left no room for doubt. The German dye agencies became, at once, the active agents of their Government in various schemes, the nature of which we shall outline, and their "information" functions became very definitely describable as espionage.
Manoeuvring Raw Materials.—In the first place, the Alien Property Custodian found unexampled, evidence of a definite German scheme to corner and divert certain important war materials destined for the Allies.
Chemical Exchange Association;—Doctor Albert's Letter.—Many such plots could be quoted, but we will limit ourselves to one,[1] chosen because on its stage move the chief figures of this espionage system. This case has been described under the name of the "Chemical Exchange Association," and is much more fitted for the pen of a Conan Doyle. The move appears to have been initiated by Dr. Albert, the financial adviser of the German Government in America, in collaboration with von Bernstorff. Its purpose was to corner the immediate supplies of American phenol in order to prevent its manufacture into high explosives, including the well-known picric acid. The outbreak of war instantly stopped the entry of phenol into the country. Further, this product was not manufactured there to any extent before. Large supplies were required for the production of synthetic resins, for the gramophone industry, This led to the development of a phenol industry by the Edison works, and there appeared, automatically, a phenol surplus. Dr. Albert, aware of the probable fate of this surplus as raw material for allied munitions, determined to seize it for the German Government, and he did this through Dr. Hugo Schweitzer, one of the most prominent members of the American agency of the great Bayer works. In June, 1915, Dr. Schweitzer contracted with the selling agents of the Edison Co. for the entire surplus of phenol available for sale, offering a large cash security which was furnished by Dr. Albert. A lapse of a week witnessed another contract with the Heyden Chemical Works, a branch of the German house, by which this phenol was purchased for conversion into salicylic acid and other products. To avoid exposing the nature of the deal, Dr. Schweitzer registered as the "Chemical Exchange Association." The profits amounted to nearly a million dollars, half of which belonged to Dr. Schweitzer. This, we are told, went immediately to the German Government. As a suitable climax to such a venture, a dinner was given at the Hotel Astor by Dr. Schweitzer in honour of Dr. Albert, and is described as a typical gathering of the most active German propagandists in the country. It was as a result of this deal that Dr. Albert sent Dr. Schweitzer a memorable letter in which he praises his "breadth of highmindedness," and compares his work with "a military coup accomplished by an army leader in destroying three railroad trains of forty cars containing four and a half million pounds of explosives."
[1]Alien Property Custodian Report, 1919, p. 43.
Dye Agency Information System;—Dr. Albert on Chemical Warfare.— Although a great deal has been said in America with regard to the activities of Dr. Schweitzer and his followers, very little has been heard on this side. Explaining the complete information system possessed by the Germans, Mr. F. P. Garvan informs us that the head of the system in America for years before the war was Dr. Hugo Schweitzer, President of the Bayer Company there, and he even quotes his secret service number given him by the Imperial Minister of War, stating that he came to America, became a citizen on the instruction of the German Government, and led the espionage and propagandist movements down to the day of his sudden death in November, 1917. The relationships between Dr. Albert and Dr. Schweitzer, when the former was leaving for Germany in 1917, are very illuminating. We learn from the same source how Dr. Schweitzer received from the former nearly one and a half million dollars, all to be spent in espionage and propaganda. Dr. Albert, leaving Dr. Schweitzer a letter of appreciation, to which we have referred in connection with the Chemical Exchange, makes a very significant reference to chemical warfare. "Of still greater and more beneficial effect is the support which you have afforded to the purchase of bromine. We have a well-founded hope that, with the exclusion of perhaps small quantities, we shall be in a position to buy up the total production of the country. Bromine, together with chloral, is used in making nitric gases, which are of such great importance in trench warfare. Without bromine these nitric gases are of slight effect: in connection with bromine they are of terrible effect. Bromine is produced only in the United States and Germany. While, therefore, the material is on hand in satisfactory quantities for the Germans, the Allies are entirely dependent upon importation from America." Making due allowance for the fact that Dr. Albert was not a technical man, this information possesses an element of truth, indeed France was driven to the extreme of establishing a bromine industry in the wilds of Tunis in order to counter the German attack.
The Moral Aspect.—Such facts tempt us to think hardly of these representatives of German culture. But they were, no doubt, fiercely patriotic Germans, and it is not difficult for us to understand their activities after the outbreak of war. An American, however, can hardly adopt such a lenient view, if, as has been claimed, many of these agents were naturalised Americans, for they were abusing the privileges and the confidence of their adopted country. We have no wish, however, to dwell on this aspect of the matter, and have no doubt whatever that many good Germans could justify all these activities according to their own codes. It would have been better not to have given this information the light of day, were it not of some value for the future.
Report of the New York World;—German Policy Regarding Dye Supplies to the U.S.A.—How far can the parent organisation of these dye agencies be regarded as aware of their activities? They were largely responsible for their inspiration. Mr. Garvan says, "Practically all the dye salesmen were only nominally in the employ of the branches here; all had secret and personal contracts with the Home Office." From these facts alone there can hardly be any doubt as to the connivance of the home organisation. Again, on April 28, 1915, theNew York Worldprinted an editorial explaining that "two large German chemical and aniline dye concerns are reported to be establishing factories in New Jersey, to supply American demands hither to supplied from Germany." This statement apparently alarmed Captain Boy-Ed, the German Naval Attache, and he communicated with Dr. Albert, the financial representative in New York, for the establishment of these factories would have countered the German policy of bringing political pressure by refusing dye shipments. Dr. Albert's reply to Boy-Ed contains the following phrase: "With regard to the dyes, I got into touch with local experts in order to determine what truth there is in the news. According to my knowledge of things, the matter is a fake, inasmuch as*our factories have bound themselves orally and by word of honour to do nothing in the present situation which might help the United States." As further evidence of this definite policy, witness a letter from Consul-General Hossenfelder to the Imperial German Chancellor, Dr. von Bethmann-Hollweg. This letter is dated New York, March 3, 1916, and, after a detailed examination of the economic relationships between Germany and America, states: "Further, we should, according to my conviction, hold ourselves absolutely passive in relation to the proposals for the exportation of potash, chemicals, and dyestuffs, and if the opportunity arises, make the sanction for them, not dependent upon the consent for an exchange of articles, but upon the abolitionen blocof all hindrances to intercourse contrary to international laws which have been instituted by England." Further, Dr. Albert, cabling to the German Government in April, 1916, on the export of dyestuffs, tells us: "The hope was entertained of bringing American industries which were solely dependent upon German deliveries of dyestuffs into a position that they would have to insist on the importation of dyestuffs under the conditions demanded by Germany." There can then be no doubt that the parent organisation of the I.G. was in close touch with the activities of its agencies.
This, then, is a brief account of the methods by which Germany created the monopoly whose existence threatened our success in the world war. Before leaving the question of the monopoly, let us inquire a little more closely into its exact nature and range. Various American official reports have revealed the desperate measures necessitated in that country in order to meet deficiencies in vital products when the German source of supply was removed.
Professor Stieglitz's Evidence.—Professor Stieglitz, of the University of Chicago, giving evidence before the United States Senate, stated:[1]
[1] Hearings before the Committee on Finance, U. S. Senate, 1920.
"I have come to the conclusion that we would have saved a great deal of suffering and a great many lives in this country, if we had had an organic chemical industry, as they have in Germany, before we started the war." Characterising the dye industry as the source of war chemicals, including explosives and poison gas, he emphasises the drug question and shows how their development depends absolutely upon the existence of certain raw materials, and facilities for comprehensive organic chemical research, which only find araison d'etrein the existence of a flourishing dye industry,
Ehrlich's Discovery.—Pointing out the difficulties in developing the manufacture of salvarsan, he explains how the process was originally discovered by an organic chemist, Dr. Paul Ehrlich, co-operating with a German dye company, the crude material coming from the dye plants, the product itself strongly resembling dyes, "containing arsenic instead of part of their nitrogen." The great importance of this drug is brought out by another witness before the same committee, Mr. Francis P. Garvan, who explains how, by refusing or neglecting to ship salvarsan, Germany wanted the United States "to starve to death" for lack of it, and he continues: "Think what an extension of disease and that an intensification of suffering and distress Germany was willing to impose upon her best market in order to obtain her imperial will."
Germany had monopolised the production of the important synthetic drugs, including the derivatives of salicylic acid, of which aspirin had developed wide use in Allied countries. After every household had learnt the value of German produced aspirin, its supply was cut off at the outbreak of war. The same disadvantages applied in the field of anaesthetics. For a long period America had no local anaesthetics for hospital surgical work, being compelled to use what were termed "Bulgarian Operations," that is, operations without anaesthetics. Professor Stieglitz claims that the lack of drugs and anaesthetics threw back American surgery some fifty to seventy years in civilisation.
But what of this country? We have already outlined how the outbreak of war found us with, at the most, two or three relatively small producing centres, which did valiant service during the war and amply proved the importance of the dye industry by revealing what could have been done had we been many times stronger. Was the same German chemical policy responsible for our pre-war position? As far as we know official investigations have not been pursued to the same length as in America, but it is beyond doubt that the German dye companies took every possible step to stifle the development of our organic chemical production. When the war broke out, our comfortable commercial contact with the I.G. became a strangle-hold. It could not be otherwise. Whatever the German attitude, and we could hardly expect it to be friendly, the strangle-hold at the outbreak of war was inevitable. But this dye menace facing our textile industries, and weakening our power of retaliation in the chemical war, was not the only danger from the I.G. We were in a critical position through failure to produce other commodities than dyes.
Drugs and Medicinal Products;—The German Monopoly;—National Health Insurance Commission.—The question of drugs assumed critical importance at the outbreak of war. Germany had been asserting her monopoly for years in the field of medicinal chemicals. Cessation of supplies at the outbreak of war caused grave apprehension of a serious shortage in these products, so important for the adequate treatment of disease. In some cases we possessed neither the raw materials nor the technical knowledge to undertake rapid home production. But in the important group of the synthetic drugs derived from coal-tar products, the raw materials were produced in quantity in the United, Kingdom, only to be exported to Germany, thus contributing to her monopoly. British manufacturers, on the other hand, held their own in the production of certain kinds of drugs, such as the alkaloids, gaseous anaesthetics, and some inorganic salts of bismuth and mercury. In a summary of certain war activities of the National Health Insurance Commission, we read: "It was chiefly in the making of the coal-tar synthetic remedies that Germany was pre-eminent, and that position was due not to any lack of skill or invention on the part of the British chemists, but to the high degree of organisation attained by the German chemical industry, which made it possible to convert the by-products of the aniline factories into medicaments of high therapeutic and commercial value."
The Royal Society;—Novocain.—So serious was the situation that for some time we existed on feeble stocks. But during this period the utmost efforts were made to develop our own production. The Royal Society promptly came forward with a scheme to link up would-be producers with appropriate centres of research. The latter not only assisted production but actually produced sufficient quantities of important drugs to tide us over the difficult period. Thus, for example, for the production of novocain the assistance of about forty university laboratories throughout the country was invoked, and they proceeded to produce the intermediates, diethylamine and ethylene-monochlor-hydrin. These substances were converted into diethyl-amino-ethanol, and the final step, the production of novocain, was undertaken by manufacturers, including a prominent dye firm. We have referred to one of these substances in connection with the German production of mustard gas, and need only say that in England, in a time of national emergency, the Government had to depend on the improvised assistance of forty teaching and research institutions for the production of small quantities of drug intermediates. Further, this work, although to the permanent credit of those who undertook it, did not enable us later to produce rapidly war quantities of mustard gas, itself dependent on the same important intermediate, ethylene-monochlor-hydrin. Germany settled the drug and mustard gas question by a simple demand to the I.G., because the latter, holding the indigo monopoly, possessed actual large-scale ethylene-chlor-hydrin production.
Other cases, although equally creditable to those actually engaged in the work, also reflect our national unpreparedness and neglect of chemical industry.
Beta-Eucaine.—Beta-eucaine is a very important local anaesthetic. Before the war we obtained it almost exclusively from Germany. When urgently needed in 1915 for the War Office and Admiralty, the Government discovered that it could not obtain this substance from commercial sources. Seventeen laboratories co-operated to produce two hundred and sixteen pounds of the material. Such examples would be ludicrous did they not possess such a serious national aspect. Our position was almost as desperate regarding chloral-hydrate, the important hypnotic, and the rare carbo-hydrates required for bacteriological purposes. Sir William Pope's comprehensive statement[1] supplies further examples.
[1]Science and the Nation, A. C, Seward. F.R.S. Cambridge University Press, 1917.
Photographic Chemicals.—Our dependence upon German monopoly, so drastically revealed at the outbreak of war, was not limited to dyes and drugs, Photographic chemicals were of special importance for war purposes, yet, when the development of aviation increased our demands for photographic chemicals, we had no normal sufficient source to which to turn. We needed not only the essential bulk chemicals, such as amidol, metol, para-amidophenol, and glycine, but also certain rarer substances, such as the photographic sensitisers, which were so essential for the Air Force. By calling upon chemical industry and research institutions both needs were satisfactorily met, but the contrast with Germany leads perforce to the same conclusion, their case and speed of production as compared with ours.
This examination shows the fine texture of the tenacious web by which Germany had entangled and stifled the organic chemical industries of other countries. Although at the outbreak of war the Allies were slow to realise the war significance of the dye industry, yet they were quick to determine that the resumption of peace would not find them in such an ignominious position. Steps were taken to establish dye industries in England, France, and America. Not only did plants spring up to meet the immediate needs of the textile industries of the world outside Germany, but the question received considerable Government attention. Promises were made and steps taken to encourage the growing industries. But these cannot be examined in detail here, and the main facts are common knowledge. Two points emerge, however, which are of prime importance from the point of view of our discussion. In the first place, the acute needs of the armies prevented the maximum use of the war opportunity for developing Allied dye industries on a sound basis. No sooner was producing capacity installed, than it was taken over for the production of urgently needed organic chemicals for explosives. Dye enthusiasts would have regarded the war as a supreme opportunity for a period of concentrated organic chemical research to make up the leeway which existed, owing to forty years of German development. But the research energies of the country were occupied on more pressing problems. In Germany, the war chemical activities of the dye factories all contributed to their future post-war strength. In England and France it was otherwise. Our equivalent energies were concentrated on developing improvised processes and plant, absolutely necessary to counter the German attacks, but almost without exception of no direct ultimate value to our peace organic chemical industries. This is a point which merits careful consideration. These industries voluntarily threw aside what was, logically, a great opportunity for them to push their research investigations so necessary for eventual success. The state-aided Huddersfield factory represented national vision, whose fruits were stolen by our ceaseless need to improvise counters to German aggression. But we owe to our dye industry the national recognition of these facts. Stress of war gave us true vision, but prevented its logical outcome. War needs are now removed, and everything should be done to place at the disposal of the dye industries those facilities which they necessarily, but gladly, sacrificed in time of emergency.
The brief survey of the preceding pages reveals the existence of a German chemical policy pursued vigorously for many years before the war. It also shows how this policy developed in America, the chief neutral country, during the war period, for two years before her entry.
The Americans have also established beyond doubt the active co-operation between the German Government and the I.G. But, if the policy of the German Government and of the organic chemical industry had many points in common before the war, they became one before hostilities were many months old. The part played by the I.G. in munitions production, in which it was virtually a tool of the Government, has already been seen. It must be remembered that, after the first Battle of the Marne, the German Government turned to the I.G. for a large part of its explosives and practically all its poison gas, and, as has been stated on many occasions, and with reason, Germany would not have been able to continue the war after the summer of 1915 but for the commercial development of the Haber process by the I.G. The story is too well known to repeat at length. The basic element of explosives is nitrogen, which is introduced by nitric acid. This was produced from imported Chili saltpetre, but the blockade cut short these imports, and but for the Haber method, the vital step in producing nitric acid from the air, Germany would have been compelled to abandon the struggle.
There is striking coincidence between the commencement of the Great War and the successful completion of certain vital German chemical developments. As late as 1912 Germany still depended on other countries, chiefly England, for her phenol, the basic raw material for picric acid as well as a dye necessity. Soon after that date the development of the Bayer plant made her independent in that product, and gave her, in fact, an exportable surplus.
War Activities of the I.G.—Reviewing all these activities and realising how they all emanate from this one organisation, we are overwhelmed by its formidable nature as an offensive and defensive weapon in time of war. Here we have an organisation, the I.G., whose sinister pre-war ramifications dominated the world by their hold on the supply of organic chemicals vital for peace and war. This organisation functioned, in a sense, as the life blood of German offensive warfare. German sources tell us very little of the war activities and future significance of the I.G. A veil of secrecy seems to be cast over the whole matter, but behind this veil must exist an acute realisation of the value of the I.G. as a trump card for the future. Krupp is uncovered, the whole world was alarmed at its meaning for war, but heard with a comfortable sense of security how Krupp was exchanging the sword for the plough. But the gigantic I.G. controls in its great hand a sword or plough for war or peace at will. This is no far-fetched metaphor.
The Rhine Factories and the Armistice,—It therefore becomes important to inquire into the attitude and activities of the I.G. since the Armistice, and to examine its position in world reconstruction. For one brief period, the few weeks following the Armistice, the German dye industries appear to have been without policy, its leaders in confusion. But with the confidence inspired by the Allied Rhineland occupation, with the assistance provided by the Allied controlling organisations, with regard to labour, fuel, and commercial transactions, the industrial morale speedily recovered.
The tide of revolution which accompanied the German debacle in the autumn of 1918 swept over the Rhineland chemical factories. Colonel Norris, writing on his visit in February, 1919, tells us that after peace was restored by the Allied forces:[1]— "the managers of several factories agreed that the occupation of the territory was the best thing that could have happened. On the other side of the Rhine, labour refused to work, and demanded unheard-of pay—everything was topsy-turvy. In fact, before the Allied armies arrived, revolutionary notions were growing rapidly along the Rhine. One director of a well-known chemical plant is said to have escaped by night with his life by way of the river, when his employees were especially menacing. When the British Army came he returned, and is now at his old post." Thus, although the I.G. was model in its institutions for the welfare of employees, at least one of its most prominent directors was compelled to take refuge from infuriated labour. What with danger from the latter, and the uncertainty of action by the oncoming Allied troops, the future of the factories appeared very gloomy. In fact, there are fairly credible rumours that the German directors were willing to dispose of their assets to the Allies while they remained intact. But the same Allied troops, whose advent was feared, rolled back the tide of revolution from the banks of the Rhine, and restored industrial security. It is doubtful whether the investing armies realised the full war significance of these factories, except the French. The latter instituted a fairly thorough control almost at once. But, judging from reports of different missions to these factories, we were even backward in organising inspection of the purely munitions plants. Thus the Hartley Mission did not materialise until three months had elapsed.
[1]Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, Vol. XI., 1919, Page 817.
War Mentality of the I.G.—We watch a vivid impression of the war mentality of the I.G. in a few phrases from Colonel Norris's account: "Around the walls of the director's room was a beautifully painted and artistic frieze which pictured the various plants of the Bayer Company and their activities. Dr. Duisberg, the director, pointed out proudly to the Americans the view of the company's plant on the Hudson River. We were not surprised to see it, although pre-war advertisements had assured us at home that Bayer aspirin had been made on the Hudson for years by an American company. During the war an ante-room had been decorated in a similar way, with pictures illustrating the activity of the plant in the preparation of war-gas materials. One saw how gas was made, shells were filled, and gas masks assembled. The work was done by an artist, and has a permanent value. The fact that the thing was conceived and executed during the stress of war throws an interesting sidelight on German character." Incidentally, it also throws a further sidelight upon the part played by Leverkusen in the chemical warfare campaign.
German Attitude towards Inspection.—As was quite to be expected, the German factories did not receive our missions with open arms, and they were particularly jealous of any inspection at Oppau, the site of the wonderful Haber synthetic ammonia plant. Lieut. McConnel, of the U.S. Navy, tells us:[1] "Upon arrival at the plant the Germans displayed a polite but sullen attitude. They seemed willing to afford the opportunity of a cursory inspection, but strongly objected to a detailed examination. On the third day of the visit the writer was informed that his presence had become a source of serious objection and that if his examination were prolonged a formal complaint would be submitted to the Peace Conference." The Allies had only themselves to blame. Their facile yielding to the argument that this great arsenal was principally of peace significance, owing to the fertilisers which it would eventually make, and the feeble backing provided for inspecting missions, were reflected in the semi-resistant attitude of the I.G. personnel.
[1]Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, Vol. XI., 1919, page 837.
The Rhine and Chaulny Contrast.—It was a curious contrast, however, to pass through Chaulny on the way to the Rhine. At Chaulny, the oldest chemical works in France, quoting again from Colonel Norris, "where Gay-Lussac did his famous work on the manufacture of sulphuric acid, where Courtois discovered iodine, and where plate glass was first made, had grown with the times, and was amongst the largest factories in France. Around it was a thriving town of about 13,000 inhabitants, with some excellent public modern buildings. When the Germans in their first retreat were forced to leave the place, they dismantled the factory and carried away everything that was portable. The fortunes of war brought them back, and before they left a second time a regiment of soldiers was put to work to destroy systematically the factory and the entire town. For, a month they kept at work, and when they withdrew but a few bricks were left standing. Every boiler had been blown up with dynamite, and every tank too heavy to be carted away rendered useless. About half an acre was covered with chemical stoneware of all kinds; each piece had been broken with a sledgehammer. Nothing was too small or too large to escape destruction. And to make sure of a good job, everything that would burn was set on fire." Yet within twenty-four hours one met Germans, in-directly or directly responsible for this policy of destruction, resenting peaceful Allied inquiries on the munition activities of their own plants. We hardly know whether to attribute such effects of Allied policy to our own integrity in respecting the peace activities of these arsenals or to official ignorance of their war-like nature.
German Revolution and the Industrial Leaders.—It is curious how the leadership of the captains of German industry was left untouched by the revolutionary disturbances of the post-Armistice period. Evidence is to be found in the composition of the main German delegation to Paris for the settlement of the Versailles Treaty. Many of the members were big industrial magnates, several had direct connection with chemical industry, and at least one was a prominent director of the I.G.
The German Peace Delegation.—Commenting on the composition of the main German delegation in the spring of 1919, we find the German press deploring the omission of any "visible representative" of Army or Navy. Does this imply the presence of invisible representation? Whether intended or not, there is truth in the implication. The list contains the name of one of the leading representatives of the big dye combine. Others of the delegates have chemical interests. This is significant. It more than implies the German official acknowledgment of the importance of the dye industry in general for the future of Germany, and of its prime importance for war.
Recent Signs of Government Interest.—Recent developments have merely strengthened the dye combine and provided further evidence of Government interest in its welfare. The chief signs of reviving. German Government interest in the I.G. are to be found in the loan for the nitrogen enterprise and in the privileges which it enjoys with regard to Government taxes. An American source,[1] a witness before a Senate Committee, reveals that the dye plants "have to pay no direct Government taxes. According to an understanding with the present Government, all organic chemical productions, the companies themselves, as well as all dependencies, without exception, for the next ten years, are freed from all direct State tax. In so far as community taxes come into consideration, I believe we will obtain a remission for our profession." The latest sign of Government support is to be found in the preferential treatment obtained by the German dye industry in coal deliveries. Coal is a critical factor in the German attempt to regain their monopoly.
Nitrogen Fixation.—The industrial fixation of nitrogen by Germany to form ammonia has great importance from the point of view of our discussion. Statements by various prominent Germans, such as Dr. Max Sering, of the University of Berlin, and Dr. Hugo Schweitzer, already referred to, leave no doubt. The former, writing in 1915, tells us: "The complete cutting off of the supply of Chili saltpetre during the war has been made good by our now taking nitrogen directly out of the air in large factories built during and before the war. With extraordinary rapidity the question has been solved how the enormous quantities of the needed ammunition were to be produced, a question which in England still meets with difficulties, in spite of the help from America."
[1] Hearings before Committee on Finance, U. S. Senate, 1920, page 195.
The German Nitrogen Syndicate.—The two great Haber plants at Oppau and Merseburg are both constituent parts of the I.G., and they introduce a new element of Government interest into the I.G. policy. Giving evidence before the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry of the United States Senate, Colonel Joyce develops this question of Government interest in detail. He tells us how war nitrogen supply was energetically and specifically fostered by the German Government through an Imperial Commissioner under the War Department. One of the three advisers of this campaign was Doctor Bueb, representing the Badische Anilin- und Soda-Fabrik. Colonel Joyce tells us: "That was a strictly war control organisation, but even before the war closed, Germany, with her usual foresight, was giving consideration to the future commercial aspects of her nitrogen works, and in August, 1919, there was definitely formed an association of the producers which was called the Stickstoff Syndikat G.m.b.H. or Nitrogen Syndicate. This designation is a commercial one, and the organisation is along commercial lines, but it is, reliably stated that the establishment of this syndicate was largely due to governmental influence. This will be more easily understood if it be realised that the German Government had given financial assistance to many of the new plants and plant increases which the war had necessitated."
Haber Process Prominent.—The Badische Co. holds a large part of the capital stock of this syndicate, whose Board contains a Government nominee. in addition the Board of Managers will have a Government chairman. Through such arrangements, Government interest in the I.G. nitrogen enterprise is clearly revealed. In conclusion, Colonel Joyce informs us, "This information, which comes from most reliable sources and is not to be disputed, shows that, beyond question, any one outside of Germany producing or desiring to purchase nitrogenous fertilisers or similar compounds, will have to deal with a single organisation, essentially a branch of the German Government, which will have an absolute monopolistic control of all such products produced in Germany or whatever surplus there may be for export (Hearing before the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, U.S. Senate, S. 3390, Mar. 22nd, 1920, p. 52)." It is reported that the preliminary allotment of production to the Badische Co. in the Syndicate is three hundred thousand tons per annum, which should leave a considerable exportable surplus. This would constitute a formidable weapon in any price-cutting campaigns entered upon by the I.G. in order to preserve her various monopolies. We learn from theColour Trade Journalof August, 1920, that the German Government has advanced something over ten million pounds for the construction and operation of the Haber plant.
The New German Dye Combine.—Internal changes have accompanied the development of these external relationships. The interchange of capital and directors between the different branches, the use of all assets for a common purpose, and the pooling of all profits effected in 1919, has brought about a closer union. From the relatively loose pre-war combination held together by common price interests, the organisation has passed through the cartel to what is now practically a form of trust. The German dye industry is now a closely woven, almost homogeneous institution. It has added economic cohesion to technical efficiency, and is to-day the largest technically efficient potential instrument of war in the world. We have thus revealed the existence, and indicated the nature, of the resultant activities of the chemical policy guiding the pre-war German combination of organic chemical or dye producers. Further, it is seen how the war stimulated and sealed closer relationships between the constituent firms, and between the resultant organisation, the I.G., and the German Government. Continuing, we find the above tendencies intensified since the Armistice, from unmistakable signs briefly referred to above.
Aggressive Nationalistic Policy.—Both in peace and war, the combination of interests, known as the I.G., has successfully pursued an intensely nationalistic and aggressive chemical policy. We might ignore what some have regarded as the sinister side of the I.G. activities, considering the whole as a wonderful monument to German science, thoroughness and patriotism, which it undoubtedly is in many respects. But the significance to the Allies and associated countries remains the same. Even without any thought or intention on the part of present day Germany to use this thing for war, it remains a serious menace. But the direct evidence which we possess does not actually support such a peaceful view. Her press confidently prophesies the resumption of the pre-war German monopoly, reassuring its readers by careful analysis of the causes of the eventful failure to establish organic chemical industries in Allied countries.
Are we to yield in this field of economic war? If so, then one of the chief lessons of the Great War will remain unheeded, and the future cannot fall to prove this to the hilt, to our cost.
The Element of Speculation.—It is of considerable interest to Introduce an element of speculation into our discussion of chemical warfare. In glancing at future possibilities, we can adopt one of two courses, follow up the clearly marked lines of recent development, or give the imagination play within the whole field of scientific possibility. The former course lies more within the scope of this book.
Chemical Tactics and Strategy.—Two basic military conceptions come to our assistance in attempting to characterise types of chemical warfare development. With a little explanation it is possible to place this or that method in the tactical or strategic class. Any new chemical warfare development capable, under a given system of individual protection, of successfully attacking the hitherto protected individual, may be termed strategic. The method may be aimed at a protected or hitherto immune human function, but if it overcomes protection it is then capable of effecting strategic results by its use on a sufficiently large scale. Thus we regard the first introduction of cloud gas by Germany, or their use of mustard gas, as examples of strategic chemical warfare moves. Any fundamental discovery of this sort, applicable to chemical warfare, is capable of strategic effects. Used only on a small scale, however, these possibilities may be lost and tactical advantages may alone accrue.
The tactical type of chemical warfare method involves the use of some new or old war chemical device in achieving a tactical objective which may, itself, form part of a larger scheme with strategic significance. Examples were plentiful during the recent war. We may refer to the use of smoke, of gas shell for neutralisation, or of cloud gas as preparation for a local infantry advance.
The same classification can be applied to the protective as to the offensive side of chemical warfare. The equipment of an army of millions with a gas mask has a strategic value, if it counters the large-scale use of gas by the enemy. The mere fact of this protection may serve the same purpose as a violent resistance to a huge enemy attack. It may render the attack, and, therefore, the resistance, out of the question. By permitting the individual soldier to retain the efficient use of his weapons in gas, the mask, or other form of individual protection, may render a costly counter-attack unnecessary. In this way protective methods in chemical warfare may be the determining factor in some strategic campaign or tactical activity. The distinction between tactics and strategy in chemical warfare cannot be made by grouping substances, or their methods of application to war, any more than one can say that certain infantry or artillery formations or weapons have a purely strategic or tactical function. The distinction lies rather in the magnitude and incidence of use of the chemical appliance on the battle-field, while depending on its novel nature. A new substance, possessing potential strategic value, may be wasted, and its surprise effect lost, in some local affair. This applies to the use of mustard gas by the Germans and to our own use of the Livens projector. Our armies were surprised and our plans modified by the German use of mustard gas at Ypres and Nieuport. We were not clear where this new thing was tending. Think of its strategic and psychological value had it been used on a scale and front twenty times larger. Leaving the chemical field, we can say that the first British use of the tank provided another example.
New War Chemicals.—The question of entirely new war chemicals is of general interest. The first main group of substances with which we were faced during the war contained such types as chlorine and phosgene, whose chief line of attack was directed towards the respiratory system. Specific protection rapidly developed and, once obtained, led to violent attempts to penetrate it or "break it down." In other words, the attempts to penetrate the mask by using higher concentrations of phosgene were analogous, from our point of view, to similar attempts by the use of an entirely new substance aimed again at the respiratory system. The introduction of mustard gas confirmed, what the use of lachrymators had suggested, that the most fruitful line would be found by attacking human functions hitherto immune. First the lungs, then the eyes, then the skin of the human being came under fire, so to speak. What further developments appear possible on these lines? Assuming that means are found to protect satisfactorily the respiratory system, and the eyes, what other vulnerable points can the war chemical find in the human organism? Some more specific vesicant, some modification of mustard gas, might arise, limited in attack to certain portions of the human being. The Germans were already at work on these lines.
"Camouflage" Chemicals.—It is by no means visionary to picture the loss of the sense of taste and smell by the use of some chemical. Partially successful efforts were made by both sides during the war to mask the odour of the harmful constituent of a shell filling by introducing an appropriate "camouflage" compound. Whole series of chemicals were examined from this point of view by the American field laboratory at Puteaux near Paris. The step from specific camouflage compounds to a single general type is by no means unbridgeable in theory.
An insight into work of this kind has been given by Colonel R. F. Bacon of the American Chemical Warfare Service. He says: "The gas-camouflage is of particular interest. It has been found that malodorous compounds (butyl mercaptan, dimethyl tricarbonate, etc.), are useful to mask the presence of other `gases' or to force the enemy to wear respirators when no other `gases' are present. As in the case of lachrymators, such `stink gases' must frequently be accompanied by other `gases,' in order that the enemy may never know when toxic gases are actually absent. Camouflage gases are also useful in that they save `mustard gas' and the highly lethal gases. Their value has been demonstrated in trials at Hanlon Field and also at the front." The use of such compounds has an obvious value. By removing the possibility of detecting the dangerous chemical, they enforce the permanent use of the protective appliance or encourage a fatal carelessness in the individual soldier.
Functions Hitherto Immune.—In this field of chemical attack upon hitherto immune human functions, it is particularly easy to class suggestions as visionary and to be wise only after the event. But it must be borne in mind that any nation in a position to effect such a surprise would be in a commanding position. It is believed, for example, that the human being maintains his equilibrium through the proper functioning of the semi-circular canals, organs situated behind the inner ear. It does not appear possible to attain them chemically directly, but they might be reached by the absorption of some suitable chemical into the system in the very small concentrations now possible on the field of battle. We doubt whether any physiologist would go further than to say that such a mode of attack is improbable in the near future. No qualified person would class it as impossible. It has been advanced that the control of equilibrium occurs through the movement of certain hairs through a liquid within these canals. If this be so, then one would simply require to solidify or change the viscosity of this liquid. Would this be difficult? Probably not, for most of the body fluids are of that colloidal nature in which coagulation occurs in the presence of small quantities of special agents. Such a result might cause the individual to lose his equilibrium. This would prohibit all organised movement. An army thus attained would be less mobile than a colony of cripples.
Picture for a moment such a battle as the great German attack of March, 1918—millions of men urged forward from fixed positions under highly centralised control—they advance, say, two or three miles beyond this control and are largely dependent on local initiative for the attack. They then enter clouds of shell chemical and in less than fifteen minutes a fair percentage becomes incapable of advancing in a fixed direction, of obeying local orders, or of anything more than a sort of drunken movement. By this time their supporting artillery would have been identified and attained, and the whole attack reduced to almost farcical conditions. Such a compound may never develop, but who will class it as beyond the realm of eventual possibility?
Every one is acquainted with the peculiar effects produced by various anaesthetics. The emergency uses to which they are put and our personal acquaintance with them may have dulled the imagination. Think for a moment of the possibilities which they unfold. Gaseous anaesthetics, in certain concentrations, produce temporary unconsciousness, other anaesthetics, so called local, produce absolute immobility without loss of consciousness. Chloroform and ether are common forms of the first type, but they are required in such concentrations as to render their battle use impracticable. But the second type, of which stovaine, the new synthetic drug, is a good example, produces its effects in very small concentration. A few drops injected into the spinal column are sufficient to prevent all movement for a number of hours. We cannot expect to obtain the conditions of the operating table on the battle-field, but chemicals which are effective in very small quantities or concentrations may find another channel into the human system. For this reason the development of the mask, the protection of the respiratory channels, is of great importance, for it blocks the way to substances which by mere absorption might produce valuable military results.
Chemical Constitution and Physiological Action.—It is impossible to adopt a more than speculative outlook in this field. So little is known regarding the relationships between chemical constitution and physiological action and very few sound generalisations have been made. A considerable amount of scientific work occurred on these lines in various countries before the war on the connection between the chemical nature of compounds and their taste and smell, but the relationships are still obscure.
Unsolved Problems of Mustard Gas.—The use of a chemical which attacks some unexpected human function introduces many disturbing and disorganising factors. Thus the introduction of mustard gas has left us with a number of unsolved problems. By employing this substance Germany departed from her usual caution and violated one of the first principles of chemical warfare. It is unsound for any nation to introduce a new weapon, unless that nation is, itself, furnished with the means of protection against its eventual employment by the enemy. The Germans have, themselves, explained this breach of the principles of war. They were convinced that we could not retaliate with mustard gas, because we could not produce it. It was a miscalculation but based on grounds of which they were sure, having been largely instrumental in determining them through their aggressive chemical policy.
Mustard gas attacks the respiratory system and the outer skin of man. The armies were efficiently protected against the first line of attack, but they never developed efficient protection against the second. Protection of the skin of the individual soldier against mustard gas was theoretically possible in three ways. In the first place a number of chemical solutions were devised which, applied to the affected skin, would destroy the poisonous chemical. This was a bad method, and was never efficiently employed. German army orders after the French introduction of mustard gas were bristling with references to chloride of lime or bleaching powder. It was to be kept in every conceivable place where the gas was likely to penetrate. Soldiers were provided with boxes of bleach called "Gelbolin." Permanganate of potash was carried as an alternative for a brief period. A wire from the Third German Army to the War Ministry, Berlin, dated 17th July, 1918, stated: "Chloride of lime has all been issued in boxes to the troops. Reserves exhausted." One had the impression of a drowning man catching at a straw. Supply on a sufficient scale to cover most cases was practically impossible. Each soldier would have to carry the protective chemical as part of his equipment, and its proper use depended on training. There was no time to identify and assemble the thousands of affected cases for central treatment. Mustard gas penetrated thick clothing, even boots. and was often only identified hours after the damage was done. The second method which was attempted on a large scale was the protection of each soldier by special mustard-gas-proof clothing, but a man, fighting for his life on the battle-field, will not tolerate such a handicap to movement, and, although hundreds of thousands of oiled suits were prepared and were of definite use in certain special cases, for example in certain artillery formations, yet the method must be rejected as unsuitable from a military point of view. The third solution, which was tried experimentally on a large scale, was to cover soldiers going into action with a cream or paste of protective chemical. This, again, could only be applied in special cases, prior to an assault, for example, and could not be regarded as a permanent form of protection.
As we have seen, mustard gas infected whole areas for many days, owing to its great persistency. It was often necessary to cross such zones for attack or counter-attack. How was this to be effected without huge losses? It was found possible, literally by creating roads of bleach, that is, by sprinkling bleaching powder on chosen lanes through the infected area, to pass columns of troops through such areas, but this cannot be viewed as a practicable solution. Carried to its logical conclusion, it would have taxed the possibilities of supply beyond their utmost capacity. Here, then, we have a case in which it is not possible to protect a soldier by some specific appliance, and the war found us embarking on schemes of protection by the use of chemicals in quantities which threatened to carry us out of the range of possible manufacture.